Business, consumer sentiment falls

United States-imposed (US) reciprocal tariffs, a three-month pause of which is concluding 10 days from now, caused a decline in the confidence index of businesses in the second quarter of the year, while Filipino consumers' confidence was deeply hurt by the insufficient income and fewer jobs available.

- By DERCO ROSAL

As reported in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) survey on the expectations of businesses on the current period, business owners "were primarily concerned about the potential impact of reciprocal tariffs on Philippine exports to the United States and uncertainty over their implementation.

As such, the businesses were "cautiously optimistic" about the country's economic performance in the April-to-June period. Results showed that the overall business confidence index dropped from 31.2 percent in the first quarter of 2025 to 28.8 percent in the second quarter.